01
Capetown
29 August – 3 September, 2011

Cape Town: first stop on the ten-city Red Bull Music Academy World Tour. Building a wall of sound with some of South Africa’s leading crews.

At The Assembly in Cape Town, DJs, soundboys, party promoters, producers and creative collectives come together to construct one of the country’s top sound systems under the guiding hands of expert builders Valve Soundsystem (UK). A tribute to the very nucleus of club culture, the collaborative experience will be topped off by a three-day festival of sound featuring a full spectrum of electronic music, where all participating crews will have the opportunity to perform on the newly built system alongside world-renowned selectors.

Dillinja

Dillinja is a name synonymous with some of drum’n’bass’ baddest global anthems. Since the early 90s the Brixton-born producer has dropped sound killers with a trademark valve bass sound so low and dense that only specially designed sound systems could do it justice. A prolific producer, his catalogue of dubs and dedication to sound has earned him an iconic status few can match.

K-aze aka Lemon D

UK-based K-aze aka Lemon D has had a long and esteemed career in the drum’n’bass world. His smash releases on V Recordings, Tru Playaz, Reinforced and Metalheadz have earned him icon status in the scene, and his partnership with Dillinja in Valve Soundsystem has ensured that it will stay that way for a long, long time.

Valve Soundsystem

Valve Soundsystem is a touring soundsystem built by UK artists Dilinja and K-aze aka Lemon D, specifically designed for the exacting playback of drum’n’bass music. Consisting of fifty-two subwoofers and custom-made mid-high cabs by Funktion One, the system needs three 7.5 ton lorries to transport it. To say that it’s a beast is probably an understatement.

Sian

Sian’s slow hypnotic take on techno might turn main rooms into flotation tanks, but he manages to marry the spacious with the immediate in effortless style. The Dubliner has had a steady rise to notoriety with his otherworldly 5am style mood music, and his dedication to sound and space makes him a special choice to put the Signal Control soundsystem to the test.

Fletcher

As a third of Cape Town’s renowned dub crew, Krushed’n’Sorted, Fletcher is one of the pioneers responsible for the dub/breakbeat sound in South Africa. His African Dope label showcases the best of homegrown talent, and has turned heads and blown subs throughout the globe.

Haezer

Cape Town local Haezer has been developing his trademark trashy electro sound since 2008, arriving at his signature wall-of-seasick-bass-noise on his own productions such as ‘Who The Fuck Is Haezer’ and ‘Dominator’. In addition to having international releases on labels such as Freakz Me Out and Onion, Haezer has continued to take his live act to the people with intercontinental tours and festivals. Haeze for days.

Sibot

Sibot has been a benchmark in SA hip hop and electronic music since way back in 1998, amassing a prolific number of releases in a packed catalogue. His unique fusion of hip hop, glitched electronics, dubby bass, and colorful experiments in sound have made him one of the top discotech wreckers, not just in South Africa but all across Europe too.

Niskerone

Niskerone is a whirlwind of drum’n’bass energy, and a tireless champion of the scene. It was his juggernaut of a club weekly ‘It Came From The Jungle’ which really grabbed the attention of the hardcore massive, and now with residencies in three different South African cities, it seems that the word is spreading.

Killer Robot

Killer Robot is a collective of three DJs who started the club night of the same name back in 2006 in Cape Town’s Fiction nightclub. Originally created to showcase the more exciting and unique local and international techno acts, they quickly became recognized as having a handy three pairs of ears themselves, and the Killer Robot sound began to become quite deadly.

Markus Wormstorm

Markus Wormstorm started his wild ride through electronic music aged fifteen in Pretoria, South Africa. Three years later he dropped out of college, sold his first song, financed his first release and didn’t look back again. After dropping an avant-electronic release on Brooklyn’s Sound Ink, Markus went on to form the crunky Sweat X outfit with MC Spoek Mathambo.

Leighton Moody

Leighton Moody takes jazz, soul, and gospel music as the root of his explorations into deep house music, carrying the rich heritage of South Africa’s jazz and vocal traditions into the modern day. Moving to Cape Town after growing up in Durban, he has carved his own path in South Africa’s deep house scene, collaborating with many of the country’s leading jazz players and working them into a house context.

DJ MX

As a former participant in Red Bull Music Academy’s Cape Town taster series in 2009, Durban-based DJ MX has gone on to develop his signature soulful, deep afro music with a string of releases on his MX imprint, distributed by Afrodesia MP3. Already shaking deep house lovers in South Africa, he hopes to spread the good MX gospel throughout the globe.

DJ Switch

DJ Switch made his name as part of the b-boy crew Static, teaming up with the likes of Ready D, The Admiral and Jahseed, Dimples, and Azhul to name a few. Equally at home on the mic as he is behind the decks, his infectious energy has seen him deliver as tour DJ for a whole host of South Africa’s finest R&B singers and rappers.

The Ruffest

The Ruffest are a kwaito duo from Nyanga, Cape Town, who instinctively know how to bottle that dusty energy of the Cape Town streets. Building infectious percussion loops with raw sounds and kwaito’s classic call-and-response motifs, The Ruffest have updated a genre and given it a whole new lease of life.

Regan Tacon

Regan Tacon is a a co-founder of South Africa’s premier psych trance label, Nano, and operator of some of South Africa’s biggest trance events, inviting international acts like Infected Mushroom to the party. Although he is no slouch in the studio either, releasing records under several monikers like Hydroponic, Boogie Section and Smoke Screen.

Jullian Gomes

Jullian Gomes grew up in the Republic of South Africa on a steady diet of Portuguese chicken, soul, Latin and kwaito before discovering house music at the tender age of eight. After a stint at the Red Bull Music Academy, Jullian is now rolling with UK vet Atjazz and his record company, and proves that he is on an eternal quest to widen his musical horizons with shuffled claps and electronic soul.

Thibo Tazz

Former law student and Red Bull Music Academy alumnus Thibo Tazz brings the scales of justice to his DJ sets, keeping a peaceful balance between the bumping bass of true house music and the more shimmering shades that might strictly be called techno. Along with stints at UCT Radio and House Factory, you can catch Thibo in the clubs of Cape Town, where he often plays alongside Europe’s minimal masters.

Mr. Sakitumi

Mr Sakitumi aka Sean Ou Tim is quite the musical chameleon. Aside from his multi-instrumentalist background on drums, keys, and electronics, his cut-up mixes have elicited comparisons to DJ Shadow, Kid Koala and the Ninja Tune label. And as the Cape Town native’s music shows, it’s every bit as accomplished as these international influences.

Counter Strike

Counter Strike is the premiere South African drum’n’bass duo known separately as Animal Chin and 500 Mills. Active since the late 90s, the duo have released over 40 singles on high profile labels such as Moving Shadow and Human. They are by all accounts the most notable and famous of South African drum’n’bass exports, and as close to musical royalty as you can get.

Hyphen

A typical Hyphen set is anything but typical, journeying down dubstep, drum’n’bass, glitch and electro, and showcasing immense knowledge and passion for all things dancefloor. If you’ve seen the veteran Bush FM DJ play live, blending all these genres seamlessly, you’ll quite quickly understand why Hyphen has such a huge and loyal following.

Richard The Third

As one half of local dubstep warriors Biscope, producer and performer for Spoek Mathambo and Mshini Wam, Red Bull Music Academy graduate, and all around madcap music machine, Richard The Third walks the musical tightrope like a true circus freak. A central agent in South Africa’s electronic music scene, Richard is a regular DJ at the country’s biggest left-of-centre music clubs and showcases sets that are a roller-coaster ride of the best of modern bass music, and everything else for that matter.

Card On Spokes

Card On Spokes sees the multi-talented musician and producer Shane Cooper mixing bass, synths, samples and beats, and steadily garnering a die-hard fan base along the way. With his unique local take on electronica, Cards On Spokes is definitely one of the rising stars in the cutting edge South African musical landscape.

B Team

Originally started as an electronic rap outfit, B Team are house and techno loving production/DJ duo of Spoek Mathambo drummer JakobSnake, and Plaigarhythm. As absolute dancefloor assassins, the duo is steadily taking over South Africa with their specially dubbed brand of ‘grindhouse electro’ harking back to the glory days of house music.

Audiophile 021

Steven Elsworth aka Audiophile 021 is an unquantifiable music powerhouse. A sound engineer and DJ by trade, he perfectly marries quality production with a party style that rocks crowds to the floorboards with his brand of bit-driven dubstep and drum and synth laden techno.

O’ltak

Some call O’ltak the South African answer to the spacey hip hop sounds of Flying Lotus, Samiyam and the rest of the American West Coast beat sound. O’ltak’s multi-layered beat-scape is an introspective ride, meandering through all manner of cosmic sounds, and his South African upbringing adds an air of unique warmth.

Kid Fonque

Kid Fonque plays the best in beat culture music, as anyone who’s seen him drop marathon four-hour sets at festivals like Oppikoppi or Rustler can attest. With a style ranging from slow hip hop to hyperspeed bass, the Kid covers the full spectrum of sound.

Lapse

Lapse’s nostalgic love of funk, soul, handclaps and cowbells shows through in his music, which is definitely something to move to. It’s dance music, but dance music for the sophisticate, equally at home in library bars and late night clubs.

Magnum Hi-Fi

Magnum Hi-Fi is DJ and all-round creative type Malcolm Skene. Already established DJs in Durban, Malcolm and his brother Ian stormed Cape Town as the electro DJ duo Grave Danger. Reaching the height of the national scene in a short space of time, Grave Danger have played alongside internationals The Bloody Beetroots, Steve Aoki and Cyberpunkers, as well as the finest in South Africa.

The Liver

Through his original production work, residency at the DONT PARTY event series, and tireless festival appearances, Liver is an established presence in the South African bass and electro scene. Recently, his influence has grown immensely after producing internationally acclaimed remixes for Spank Rock, The Glitch Mob, Bassnectar, and more.

Behr

Hailing from Cape Town, South Africa, Behr’s methods stem from sampling and field recordings, as well as using various instruments to create live loops utilizing sounds from nature – and manipulating them into oblivion.